More Hyundai Tiburon Trouble

"I bought a Hyundai Tiburon for my daughter because it was supposed to have the best warranty. She was driving it and the clutch went - no slippage, no warning. She was stranded by herself in the country."

John Cross (not his real name) of Kansas thought he was buying a reliable car for his daughter. She had a long commute to college in Colorado Springs.

"We bought it used and realized she wasn't getting the 100,000 miles warranty but 50,000 miles was fine. I had driven it the week before and it was fine. Luckily she had a cell phone when the Hyundai broke down and called her grandfather. He took her to his farm and had the car towed there. I thought it might have been the linkage - I have an automotive background; I was a line mechanic and foreman for 19 years.

I told her to call Hyundai, and we sent them the warranty. A wrecker came down to Colorado Springs and took it back to the dealership where we purchased it. They had it for a day and my daughter did not get a back-up car. This was a big inconvenience.

They estimated over $2,000 to put in a new clutch, mainly because of the fly wheel. They said it would have to be replaced but I didn't agree with them.

They also had a long list of other non-warranty things they found wrong and needed replacing or repairing. With my training I knew all the sales gimmicks: they try to entice you to spend more money. I told them I wasn't willing to pay that and asked them why the clutch wasn't under warranty - I assumed the power train warranty would cover the clutch. They said it was a 'wear item' and I had no recourse except to buy a new clutch.

I said that I would think about it and get some other estimates. So I checked around and found out the high failure rate on these cars. Then I went on the Internet and found a lot of people in my same predicament. Also there was a service bulletin out about fly wheel problems.

I got estimates for $1,200 and I made arrangements to get it taken over to the dealership. In the meantime, I had a week's vacation coming up so I loaded up my tools and investigated myself. I took out the clutch, found out the clutch facing was burned on the disc and the clutch cover showed signs of heat but the fly wheel as far as I could see had no problems whatsoever.

So I bought an after-market clutch and just took sandpaper, broke the glaze on the fly wheel and put it back together. And that was a few months ago.

I was disappointed at the warranty and the representation by Hyundai, even buying it used. Everyone in my family drives a standard, and we all know how to drive. We haven't had any clutch problems in the past.

I felt that the warranty was misrepresented to me and Hyundai was the highest estimate for the repair. Of course Hyundai could argue they would use original parts with the warranty - for what that is worth. And they weren't about to match someone else's estimate. When I was talking to them I got the impression that they had gone through this so many times with so many other people: they had eliminated any gray area. When I worked in a GM dealership, when you had a car that had any problems, they worked with the customer and gave a courtesy adjustment.

Hyundai gives you nothing, no customer service. And definitely not making good on its warranty."

UPDATE
We recently posted an interview with another disgruntled Hyundai customer, [Bill Parfait Jr.] regarding his Hyundai Tiburon complaint. Bill had to have his clutch replaced and he just sent us this report:

"I thought you might be interested to know the heavy duty Spec II Kevlar clutch I had installed at the Hyundai dealer went up suddenly with only 4,000 miles on it. I will keep you posted; I had it towed back to the dealer."
Bill Parfitt Jr.

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READER COMMENTS

Posted byBarbara Mitchell
on August 21, 2012

I purchased a new 2005 Tiburon and at about 35,000 mile a knock started in the car when you started it. The dealership has been into the motor 2 times replacing a lifter and the second time a lifter and a rocker arm. Started knocking again and of course the 100,000 mile powertrain warranty is a joke. Just informed by the dealership (Pearson Hyundai) that the Hyundai Rep heard no noise and therefore there is nothing that they can do. All I have to say is that if they can't hear that noise they are deaf! I only have 67,000 miles on the car and they can find every excuse in the book to avoid the issue, but they can find something that isn't covered under warranty to fix.

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